Here's the deal: the NFL is re-drafting all of its players as if all 32 teams were expansion teams.  Each team is presented with whacky options with which to fill out their rosters.  The Bengals are up first.  With a gun to your head, which option do you choose as the first five players to be on your roster?  

Option A: David Bakhtiari, Quinton Nelson, Corey Linsley, Zack Martin, Tristan Wirfs

Option B: Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill  

Option A every time.

Is it Thursday yet?

Option A. Easily. You can win on the ground no matter who your QB, WRs, or RBs are so long as you have an OL that good. Meanwhile WRs, regardless of how good they are, need someone to throw them the ball and that guy who throws them the ball needs someone to block for them. Also OL have longer peak careers, so your window will be open longer.

Option B will rarely see the field because Option A can run on a team at will regardless of who the QB, RB, or WRs are. All it takes is 1 defensive stop or 1 mistake and Option A will turn it into another 6 points on the ground. Option B will be explosive as hell, but only if the QB can get the ball to the WRs.


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(Also Option B would melt down because there's no way that 5 WRs of that caliber with egos of that caliber are going to be happy splitting catches 5 ways like that. They combined for 735 pass attempts last year, which would be an NFL record even with 0 passes to TEs or RBs.)

In the NFL of 1970? A

In the NFL of 1980? A

In the NFL of 1990? A

In the NFL of 2000? A

In the NFL of 2010? Maybe A. Hardest choice.

In the NFL of 2021? B

(04-26-2021, 05:30 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Is it Thursday yet?

No frikken doubt. But option B looks pretty good in today’s NFL

Man by reading all these threads, you would think we only have 1 pick in this entire draft.

(04-26-2021, 07:21 AM)Rubekahn29 Wrote: Man by reading all these threads, you would think we only have 1 pick in this entire draft.

Or that we only need 1 new starter on the OL. 3 are below average starters, 1 can't stay healthy, 1 is signed for 1 year and is 33.

Bengals slacked on OL in FA, so they need to get at least 2 quality OL starters for 2021 out of this draft, plus 1 more quality developmental guy who can come in for 1-3 starts this year and hold his own before starting in 2022.

Oh, look another WR vs OL thread. Friday is going to be interesting because it feels like half the fan base is going to be melting down.

(04-26-2021, 04:22 AM)Bilbo Saggins Wrote: Here's the deal: the NFL is re-drafting all of its players as if all 32 teams were expansion teams.  Each team is presented with whacky options with which to fill out their rosters.  The Bengals are up first.  With a gun to your head, which option do you choose as the first five players to be on your roster?  

Option A: David Bakhtiari, Quinton Nelson, Corey Linsley, Zack Martin, Tristan Wirfs

Option B: Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill  

Hmmm...5 starters vs 3 starters and 2 backups... seems like a fairly weighted hypothetical question.

(04-26-2021, 08:11 AM)Au165 Wrote: Oh, look another WR vs OL thread. Friday is going to be interesting because it feels like half the fan base is going to be melting down.

As long as they don’t reach at 5, I’m going to be super excited with whoever.

And they should at least use the top WR/OL prospects at there respective positions from this years draft class. I think that would be more fair.

(04-26-2021, 05:30 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Is it Thursday yet?

Lol, no doubt.

(04-26-2021, 06:24 AM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: In the NFL of 1970? A

In the NFL of 1980? A

In the NFL of 1990? A

In the NFL of 2000? A

In the NFL of 2010? Maybe A. Hardest choice.

In the NFL of 2021? B

Lol u poor thing. Look at the last super bowl. U had the chiefs with all the weapons in the world and then u had the bucs who had a boat load of weapons as well.....who won the game? and most importantly why? The bucs won because they were able to keep Brady clean however on the flip side despite all those cute flashy weapons the chiefs were dominated up front to the point where the chiefs this offseason had to totally revamp their oline. And they did cuz they have their franchise qb and rule number 1 kids is to protect him. It’s oline all day. Now the bengals are gonna take chase cuz their idiots most likely but hey maybe they’ve smartened up...doubtful.

I opened this post and just saw "Option A" and "Option B", and thought it was tongue-in-cheek.

(04-26-2021, 07:32 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Or that we only need 1 new starter on the OL. 3 are below average starters, 1 can't stay healthy, 1 is signed for 1 year and is 33.

Bengals slacked on OL in FA, so they need to get at least 2 quality OL starters for 2021 out of this draft, plus 1 more quality developmental guy who can come in for 1-3 starts this year and hold his own before starting in 2022.

I agree. Look their morons so their gonna go chase so that means in 3 and for I’m going Meinerz and Kendrick Green then maybe in the 6th Alaric Jackson. That gives u 2 starters and a developmental type tackle who can also play guard. Hopefully in this scenario in round 2 they go defensive end!!!!

(04-26-2021, 09:35 AM)SadFaceBengal15 Wrote: Lol u poor thing.  Look at the last super bowl.  U had the chiefs with all the weapons in the world and then u had the bucs who had a boat load of weapons as well.....who won the game? and most importantly why? The bucs won because they were able to keep Brady clean however on the flip side despite all those cute flashy weapons the chiefs were dominated up front to the point where the chiefs this offseason had to totally revamp their oline.  And they did cuz they have their franchise qb and rule number 1 kids is to protect him.  It’s oline all day.  Now the bengals are gonna take chase cuz their idiots most likely but hey maybe they’ve smartened up...doubtful.

That argument is hot trash, "you poor thing". The Buccaneers have quite literally the strongest receiving corps in the NFL. The Chiefs have a whole crapload of weapons. That's probably the single biggest reason why both of those teams played in the Super Bowl in the first place, in addition to their all-world quarterbacks.

Then, yes, the team with the better offensive line (less injured offensive line) won the game. Because a good offensive line is better than a bad offensive line. No shit, genius.

(04-26-2021, 05:30 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Is it Thursday yet?

While Thrusday is a top flight day, it really doesn't offer us the sheer potential of a Friday.  What was Thursday's level of competition? Wednesday? We all know that is a week day (ba dum bum!). Friday continuously had to go against Saturday and we all know that is a week ender (symbol crash).

It's gonna be a long week Nicomo 

(04-26-2021, 09:44 AM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: That argument is hot trash, "you poor thing". The Buccaneers have quite literally the strongest receiving corps in the NFL. The Chiefs have a whole crapload of weapons. That's probably the single biggest reason why both of those teams played in the Super Bowl in the first place, in addition to their all-world quarterbacks.

Then, yes, the team with the better offensive line (less injured offensive line) won the game. Because a good offensive line is better than a bad offensive line. No shit, genius.

It was worded poorly but his argument is that all of the weapons in the world don’t matter if your QB doesn’t have time to hit them, and I agree. I am going to go with a strong OL over WRs every day. The Bucs also had one of the strongest offensive lines in the league.

I’ll tel you this....I’m ready for Thursday. Let’s just get this damn show on the road. Chase or Sewell, I’m going to be happy, regardless of my preference.

(04-26-2021, 04:22 AM)Bilbo Saggins Wrote: Here's the deal: the NFL is re-drafting all of its players as if all 32 teams were expansion teams.  Each team is presented with whacky options with which to fill out their rosters.  The Bengals are up first.  With a gun to your head, which option do you choose as the first five players to be on your roster?  

Option A: David Bakhtiari, Quinton Nelson, Corey Linsley, Zack Martin, Tristan Wirfs

Option B: Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill  

Without a QB, I'd have to go Option A and just run the ball.

With a top QB I'd want the receivers though.

(04-26-2021, 09:54 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: It was worded poorly but his argument is that all of the weapons in the world don’t matter if your QB doesn’t have time to hit them, and I agree. I am going to go with a strong OL over WRs every day. The Bucs also had one of the strongest offensive lines in the league.

I’ll tel you this....I’m ready for Thursday. Let’s just get this damn show on the road. Chase or Sewell, I’m going to be happy, regardless of my preference.

Over the course of the season the Bucs' line performed around average, at least in terms of how long Brady had to throw per dropback. And average is certainly better than what the Bengals of 2020 put out there. I believe that the game has changed enough in the present that an average offensive line paired with elite weapons is more likely to generate a Super Bowl victory than an average array of weapons with an elite offensive line. It still feels bizarre to type that, because I'd have never made this argument in the not-so-distant past -- but the game is frankly nonsense now.

I would be fine with Sewell or Chase too. They both address positions of need and, I believe, are great prospects. I think the argument is generally hot air inspired by outdated conventional wisdom.